A vacation in egypt
by Arike
Summary: Silandra goes to Egypt with family and friends, and meets Isis Ishtar, chap 4 up, please review.
1. The beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Manga/Anime Yu-gi-oh, that is for the copyright owners.  
  
Note: I don't mind if anything is used in other stories, just mention that it's from me.  
  
Note: This is a frame-story, so chapter 1 is a flashback from the person in the prologue.  
  
Note: Please review.  
  
Prologue  
  
I've been laying here for a while now. I've lost all track of time and space, so I can't tell where I am, when or for how long. I won't move. I'm sure that if I make the slightest move, I will feel the pain again. That infinite pain. For now, I can do nothing but lay here. It's outside, I know that much. I can feel the wind. I believe it's a stone I'm laying on. Whatever it is, it feels hard and smooth. It's night. I can hear the oohoo of an owl hunting. I've always loved animals. I'm alone, I cannot hear any human noises. They left me here, and I've been laying here for a while now.   
  
How I ended up here? What they did to me? Why they left me here? Who they are? I remember. I remember very, very well.  
  
I'll start at the beginning. I really need to sort things out. Make some order in this chaos, this raging storm inside my head. Other than outside, where it's a peaceful night. They did this to me. I can't name it. I need to sort things out.  
  
1.  
  
Sunday afternoon. A rather regular one, I might add. Just chilling, taking it easy at home. The cat lazy in the sun, on the edge of the balcony. My mum was hanging up the laundry, outside. She hummed a song, from the Carpenters. Postman, if I remember correctly. I was doing nothing, trying to take a nap on my mathematics book. Dull homework. I had a test coming up on Tuesday, and our teacher wanted to check our homework on Monday. The problem was that I hadn't done anything this entire semester. Not to worry too much, I could finish it now, if I could find the energy.  
  
"Meow"  
  
Something hugged my legs. Wet nose against my left foot.   
  
"Hey Artemis, how is my girl doing?"   
  
"Purrrrrrr"  
  
"Okay, I'll get you some milk when I'm done with this letter. Why don't you go and play with Athena?"  
  
Athena is my owl. A white snow-owl. I don't know how old she is, but I found her three years ago. Or, Artemis found her, on one of her hunting trips. It scared the hell out of me when she came back with an adult owl in her beak. She really was a poor thing, as she laid there on the kitchen table. Luckily my mother called Doctor Bly and he cured Athena.  
  
She and Artemis have been friends ever since.  
  
Like I said before, I love animals. I can talk to them. I don't know where it comes from, but I can understand them. Maybe that's why they were after me.  
  
"Silandra, Gareth, tea!"  
  
'Four 'o clock already? I really need to do something about myself' I thought. But I needed to go downstairs to have tea with my brother (13, and very annoying) and mum.  
  
"Behold, beware of the ruler of the undead, Pumpking! And his most feared henchmen, the Skull Servants! But do not fear, o, milady, for I will save thou with the help of my bold friend, the King of Yamimakai!"  
  
That was my brother. He just discovered Duel Monsters, and now you almost couldn't tell the difference between him and any other fan of it. I thought it was a great game too, but he overacted it. Though it was nice when he came up with an article about the origin of the game, which Pegasus had created it from some old Egyptian tablets. It was because of that my mum had planned a trip to Egypt in two weeks. He totally freaked out when he heard. But back to the present now.  
  
"Hey Gar, stop and be still for a moment!" I whispered.  
  
"What's up, Sil?"  
  
"Mum called us by our whole names."  
  
"So?"  
  
"She only does that when dad's around."  
  
"Dad's here? You've got to be kidding! I am not going anywhere near him!"  
  
"We have to! Or else mum will start to suspect us, like we know, and we're not supposed to!"  
  
"I don't care!"  
  
"Do you want Patty to be fired? Or me to be sued?"  
  
"No, but I don't want to see him"  
  
"Let's just try to make it as brief as we can. We can use our homework as an excuse."  
  
"Okay. If I must."  
  
And we headed downstairs. What happened? My mum and father are divorced. And not in a nice way.   
  
It all happened a year ago. My father worked around the clock, or so he said. And my mum started to suspect some things. My brother and I as well. So when term ended the two of us started to follow him to his office, and back. Taking turns to watch his car. And he really was at the office all the time. So we gave up. Until our cook/former nanny stumbled across one or two of his paychecks. Great amounts of money were paid to a certain lady called Gabrielle Server. Much more than any reasonable salary could be. She told us after we had sworn to keep it a secret. I worked on the information, I even hacked the heavily secured computer of his company, security ltd. And the one from the office of justice. 2 hits.  
  
1. She was an assistant at my fathers company, but she didn't seem to do anything useful, no projects had ever been assigned to her  
  
2. She had been sued for multiple murders thrice, but she got away with it all those times, due to lack of evidence.  
  
Okay, that had to mean something. Either my father was a criminal, or he was being abused by a criminal. So again we went on a spy-tour. This time also when he wasn't going to work.   
  
He turned out to cover her up. And to have sex with her.  
  
At that same time my mum had found out as well. That he was cheating, that is. She had once answered a call on his cell phone, when he wasn't around. And it was dear Gabrielle calling. Next day my father was out on the streets, and my mum calling a lawyer for alimony and custody. She got it right away, luckily.  
  
And now she even let the freak in her own house! O, well, we'll see.  
  
"Hello, miss Landra, Mr. Reth."  
  
"Hi Patty, how is mum?"  
  
Patty was the person we trusted most, next to each other. She was just part of the family.  
  
"Very tense, miss, very tense indeed. The two gasts are not very welcome, but you know ma'am."  
  
"Two?" Gar asked.  
  
"Yes sir, Mr. Owen and an almost-not-dressed woman."  
  
"Woman? That sounds like an insult from you"  
  
"It is, sir"  
  
Gar grinned "okay, let's meet Gabrielle"  
  
"I thought you didn't want to?" I teased.  
  
"I always want to meet someone who can make Patty insult her, so I can think of a few good insults myself."  
  
Now I grinned "Let's go"  
  
And my worst dreams came true. In the living room my mother sat shaking and white in her favorite chair, while my father sat relaxed and sagged on the red-and-white couch with a whore in his lap. I don't know how else to describe her. She had an unnatural brown skin, like there was sand all over it. And blond hair, painted, almost white. And the ugliest cheap make-up I had ever seen. And that perfume! Ugh! At least it matched with her make-up, but I could smell it at the other side of the room, and it was a big room. And the skirt and the top she was wearing were little more than a bikini. Not that I had anything against it, some classmates of mine preferred this type of clothing. It's just not a good thing when people over 35 with a body that looks like it is a hundred years old try it. Especially not leather, black leather. And there were scars all over her body. Probably leftovers from the lot of cosmetic surgery that was needed to let her look like she came from earth.   
  
"W-w-w-w-would you l-l-like sssome t-t-tea, Owen?"   
  
Poor mum. You could really tell she was having a hard time. And to my disgust they were adding to it.  
  
"Gladly, Gladys, and give me and Gaby some gin with it. Right, my dear?"  
  
"Giggle"  
  
What a brainless, worthless piece of shit. Or not, if you consider the amount of money she probably earned with a little sex and giggling.  
  
My brother and I entered the room.  
  
"Hi mum, you called us for tea?" we asked.  
  
"Ahhhh- yes children. Please say hi to your father and his fiancée, Miss Server"  
  
O-oh, we were going to have to deal with "Gaby" a lot longer than expected.  
  
"O, don't be so formal, Gladys, I did live in this house for over eighteen years, and I want my children to know their future stepmother by her first name, so let's introduce each other properly. Children, meet my wife-to-be, Gabrielle Server. Gaby, meet Silandra and Gareth, my children."  
  
"Hi" we all three said, as cold as we could.  
  
She looked at us, first at Gar, then at me. She had the blackest eyes I had ever seen. Cold and hard as steel, yet vicious and alive. A thrill went down my back, and made my feet cold.  
  
"W-w-w-well, let's all have tea, then."  
  
My cell phone rang.  
  
"Sorry mum, I have to answer this call"  
  
Mum looked shocked, she could never handle that much when father was around. Gar gave me an angry look for leaving him and mum alone like that. I ignored it and went to the hall. It was Shana, she wanted to know something about math. I helped her and ended the call. Just as I hung up, a girl walked up the stairs towards the open front door, probably my age, 17. I was a little taller then her, she is about 1.70 m. But she had very long black hair, in a braid of a meter! She had a bronzed skin. I thought she came from India.  
  
"Hi"  
  
"Hello, uh..."  
  
"My name is Gwen, I'm a niece from the neighbors. I'm staying there for the next two weeks, and uncle told me I could find some kids my age here. So I thought 'let's be rude and just hop by'"  
  
I smiled "It's not rude at all, and I just wondered who you are. And your uncle is right, it seems. My name is Silandra, Sil, and I am 17, my birthday is in 3 weeks, so you'll probably miss it, and I have a younger brother, called Gareth, he is 13, he is in the living room, and an older brother, and his name is Quint, he is at Oxford at the moment, but he will spend his vacation here, so he will probably be home in a week. Do you want to come in?"  
  
"Sure, if I'm not a disturbance, 'cause it looks like you have guests."  
  
"Yes, my parents are divorced, and my father and his fiancée are 'honoring' us with their presence"  
  
"Is he nice? You sound like you hate them"  
  
"I do, but let's go, I'll introduce you to Patty, our cook and friend. Maybe she'll give us some scones"  
  
"Okay"  
  
When we entered the kitchen Patty was not alone.  
  
"Hey, Gar, what are you doing here?"  
  
My brother was sitting on a kitchen chair, a little shaky, and white in the face.  
  
"Sil, he's so terrible, he's just so damn terrible"  
  
"Okay tell me what happened. But first, this is Gwen, the niece of Jenny and Scott. Gwen, this is Gar, I told you about him, and this is Patty, Patty, do you have some scones?"  
  
Patty smiled "Yes miss, but they need to cool a little. And welcome to you Gwen, nice to meet you. I hope you like it here"  
  
"Yeah, thanks, great to meet you, and you too, Gar"  
  
Gar looked up "Oh, I'm sorry, yes, it's really nice to meet you"  
  
We all sat down at the table, Patty after having given us some coke  
  
"So, what happened back in the living room?"  
  
"Gabrielle, you know, the fiancée, spoke. She said some really freaky stuff to mum, and I just couldn't take it anymore, so I left. Patty helped me get over it a little"  
  
"And mum?"  
  
Gar shrugged "It looks like she has been turned into a zombie-slave, do this Gladys, Yes sir, Do that Gladys, Yes sir"  
  
"But..."  
  
Patty patted on my shoulder "not to worry miss, I send Artemis to watch over her" she could also talk to animals  
  
"Okay"  
  
That was a relief. Artemis would certainly look after mum, and do something if mum was hurt. We sat there for a while in silence, sipping from our cokes.   
  
"Where are you from, Gwen?"  
  
I looked up. Gwen looked surprised at the question, maybe she thought we had forgotten her. It had been Patty who asked the question.  
  
"Well, that depends. My father travels a lot."  
  
"Wow, cool!" that was Gar "In which countries do you live?"  
  
"Well, autumns are mostly spend in Japan or China, touring around the Country, in the winter we live on a ship sailing on the Caribbean Sea, and in March we leave for New York, and in two weeks I will be joining my parents in Egypt."  
  
That was new to me "Great! Maybe we can spend some more time together then, because we are going on a two-month vacation there when term ends, so in two weeks. Will you be staying in Luxor?"  
  
She laughed "actually, yes, marvelous."  
  
We cheered. And I was truly happy, because for the next vacation I would have a friend to explore a country with. Gar seemed to think it would be a great thing, having two girls look after him. He started to ask all sorts of questions, of which she could answer few, since it would be her first time there. And eventually he came to Duel-Monsters.  
  
"Oh, you should play it sometime! It is such a great game!"  
  
I nodded, because it was.  
  
"I already play it."  
  
"Really" Gar jumped to his feet "How well?"  
  
"Not very, but I like it very much"  
  
We laughed. We had found a common hobby, so it promised to be fun for the next upcoming weeks.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Note: I know there is not much from Yu-gi-oh in here, that will come in the forthcoming episodes. 


	2. To the airplane

Disclaimer still applies.  
  
2.  
  
"Thonk!"  
  
I slowly made my way out of something that sticked to me like slime. It slowly resolved. I opened an eye. I really didn't want to wake up. It was just too early. It was Saturday, I wanted to sleep.  
  
"Sil, get up! Quint just got home!" Gar yelled, and went away.  
  
"Wha?" I tried to pull the robes off my legs. Looked like I had a busy night. Artemis tried to get into my lap, but I pushed her away.  
  
"Not now sweety, I need to get dressed and go downstairs"  
  
"Meow"  
  
"Quint's home"  
  
"Hooo"  
  
"Good morning, Athena. I'll get you both some food downstairs."  
  
I put on my clothes as fast as I could, splashed some water in my face and rushed downstairs.  
  
"Quint!"  
  
"Hey Sil, how's my sis doing"  
  
"Great, it's almost end of term for me too."  
  
He grinned because he understood. Then we had to make way for Gar, who was pulling what looked most like a trolley, with three huge suitcases on them. He made a face as he passed.  
  
"Eh? What's all that stuff?"  
  
"Well, I've been to London for a weekend a couple of weeks ago, and I bought some stuff for the vacation. Mostly light clothing and slippers. Mum asked me to bring some for you as well, because you are rather large for the clothes they sell at local stores."  
  
I shrugged "I can't help it not every woman is 1.60"  
  
"Tell me something. I had to run through the entire city to find something suitable for a 1.75 girl that wasn't as large as a tent and brown."  
  
"How do you know my size, actually?" I asked suspicious.  
  
"Mum phoned to tell me them."  
  
"I see. She's sweet"  
  
"Yes, she is. But I heard something about a friend of yours, staying next door. Can you tell me something about her, is she cute?"  
  
"Uh-oh, romance alert." I teased.   
  
"Don't say that, Sil. You know I'm dating Gretta in Oxford"  
  
I shivered at that name. She was the most ewe-girl my brother had ever picked. The name alone! But they seemed to come along very well. No matter.  
  
"I'm sorry. And back to that girl, her name is Gwen, and she is a niece of Scott and Jenny. She's really nice, but not cute. And her parents are staying in Egypt, also in Luxor, so she will be coming with us."  
  
"Okay, and how old is she?"  
  
"As old as me."  
  
"Good for you. I'll see her some time then, I guess?"  
  
"Yes, you'll meet her today. She's coming over this afternoon."  
  
"Great."  
  
"Hey, do you guys want something to drink?" Gar asked, his head just visible in the doorway to the kitchen "Patty just cooked water."  
  
"Yeah, some coffee, please" We answered. And we went to the kitchen.That afternoon was one of the most pleasant of my life.  
  
*************  
  
How innocent, how happy was I then. Before they did this to me, before I came here.   
  
My time-orientation is coming back a little, because it's almost dawn. I can feel the light, and it's getting warmer. So I must have lain here for two whole nights now.But my body is still aching from those few minutes. What I don't understand is how any human being could do this to someone else. I still can't move an inch without mentally freaking out from the pain. So I just go back to my memories.  
  
How well I remember the warm hazelnut eyes of my brother, when I saw him back, he always seemed to smile, and he was never cynical. His brown hair was a little longer than it should be, and girls always looked at him in that particular way. He was a one-girl-guy though, he never had 2 relationships at once. At least he had learned that from father. And from mums pain. It was funny when he met Gwen, 'cause she had a girlfriend too, on St. Marten, where she went every year. We had a great time together, those two weeks, and we became good friends, the four of us.   
  
But now one of the nastiest things in my life was about to happen.  
  
*************  
  
"Gar, Quint, Sil, anyone, help me! We have to get to the plane in time, and I just cant heave these suitcases in the car." mum called from the garage.  
  
"'kay ma, be right out" And Gar and Quint came running out of the hall, and nearly tripped over the suitcases I had been repacking, hoping to save one or two bags. Gar stopped and frowned.  
  
"Hey Sil, just stop it already. It's no use, and those bags don't matter anyway. Just relax, and have some fun on this journey."  
  
I sighed, and retired from trying. "You're right. I'll just pack the last stuff."  
  
And he mumbled some answer while he ran away to Gwen, to help her carry her three suitcases, her uncle had left her with at the beginning of the drive.  
  
When we were all settled and ready to go, and Gar had made a last run for the toilet, we had a three-hour-trip to the airport. Mum driving, Gwen next to her, and Gar, Quint and I in the back. And we enjoyed the trip, pointing at funny things in the landscape and chatting amongst ourselves. Gwen had also brought some folders, with beautiful pictures of the pyramids and the Sphinx. I only felt a twinge of regret when I thought of Artemis and Athena, whom we had left at the neighbor's house, because there were no animals allowed in the airplane, nor in the hotel.   
  
But why was mum so nervous? We were going on a bloody vacation, not to some all-importend exam. She seemed as if she was driving us straight into some war-area.  
  
O well, maybe I was just deluding myself.  
  
"Hey guys, do you think the trip will be boring? I heard those trips take pretty long, and you also have to wait a long time on the airport." Gar said.  
  
"Yes, but you can shop on the airport once you've checked in, and they always put up a movie during the flight." Gwen answered, while she sat backwards on her front seat.  
  
"Allright!" Gar yelled, while he almost knocked us out with his fist.  
  
"Hey, be careful!" I said, rubbing my forehead. And all laughed at me.  
  
The rest of the trip went okay, and the check-in also, everything was just fine, until we got to the waiting-room, half an hour before the plane was boarded. My father and his fiancee were waiting for us. Only then I realised why my mum had been so nervous. She hadn't told us, and she must have been really scared. And with justice, because if my intuition told me right, hell was to be unleashed, a two-month-hell.  
  
"Hello children, how nice to see you!" he said, semi-glad "We are going with you on this nice vacation, won't that be fun?" Next to him miss ugly waved with her pink-and-red, new-bought, so-not-fancy bag, a smile plastered on her face, that looked like it was a mask of make-up going to crack.  
  
"Mum, what is this?" I asked quietly. I could feel anger boiling just below the surface, and when I glared at the others, I saw I was not the only one. Even Gwen frowned, as she must have felt the tension rise to a climax.  
  
"He paid for our trip, Silandra." My mum looked to the ground. And I did not feel sorry for her. Why hadn't she told us? Why did she let this happen?  
  
"Ah." I almost couldn't restrain myself, and Quint tapped me on my back as if to remember me I shouldn't let go of myself. He could know. He was the only one who had pointed father on his mistakes. He had to go to the hospital the next day. The scars must still be on his back and his shoulders. So this was why, she had begun to gamble again, and lost the money for the trip, and dad had taken advantage of the situation. I sighed. "Aha."  
  
"Don't 'ah' on me younglady, you know you have to respect your parents."   
  
Oh, so now she had someone to to pick on, so she could feel herself better. Well, I wasn't going to play this little game.I saw through her, and what I saW wasn't pretty, it was pityful.  
  
I only gave her a long hurted look and turned away. How could I respect someone who did not deserve respect?  
  
Gar scraped his throat. He probably didn't know what to do.  
  
"Shall we go to the airplane?"  
  
And we all went with him, As far away as we could from that reincarnated devil, his new mate and his newly recaptured slave.  
  
************  
  
Was it wrong what I had done then? Could I have done it any other way? I don't think so, not without abandoning what I believed in, standing up for those you love. Ironically, I have lost everything but my believes now. I don't know where the others are, if they are still alive. I don't know even where I am. Maybe I know when I have sorted things out just a little more.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Note: More of Duel-Monsters coming up, I just had to put this chapter inbetween. 


	3. Meet Isis Ishtar

Disclaimer applies  
  
Note: links to Yu-gi-oh finally made.  
  
3.  
  
Alright, we were in the air. And I was still alive and well. But everything was said with that. Father was sitting three seats behind me, being all mushy with Gangster girl (let's be honest, what else could she be?). And mum was crumpled up beside Quint, at the other side of the path, Gar (asleep against the window), Gwen and I were sharing another row. I was going over some files on my laptop.  
  
"Sil?" Gwen whispered, bending her head a bit towards me, so no-one would hear.  
  
"Yes?" I whispered back.  
  
"Isn't it your birthday next week?"  
  
"Yes, that's one of the reasons I'm so angry with my mum. I don't want my father there. This would have been the first one he wouldn't screw up, but noo, mum just had to invite him."  
  
"How could he have screwed your last birthday? I thought your parents are more than a year divorced by now?"  
  
"He decided he'd pay a visit, and he managed to offend everyone present, and ruin what was up to that moment a great day." I said, closing my eyes at the mere memory of that day.  
  
"Did he bring Gangsty along that day?" she asked, shocked.  
  
I grinned "No, I met her only two weeks ago, you remember, when you first walked in."  
  
"Yeah" she sighed and paused, then she looked at the screen of my laptop, and frowned "What are you reading?"  
  
"O, that" I started whispering again, after all, I didn't want to get caught "I hacked the computer of my fathers company a few times, trying to find a way to get it into trouble. But according to this file, it seems like I don't have to do anything anymore."  
  
"How come?"  
  
"Well..., do you know KaibaCorp?"  
  
"Yes, I know that. I'm raising money for one of those duel disks."  
  
"Now then, the disks, and all the gaming stuff that goes with it, are only a recent change of strategy that began with the death of the old CEO, Gozubaru Kaiba. When he was still in charge it was a well-known concern for military development, they delivered to several countries of the UN, among them of course the US."  
  
"And..?"  
  
"...and they had a big joint-venture with my fathers company. So big, it had become the core-business of Security ltd. And when Seto Kaiba became the new CEO, he dropped the whole project. So now my father has a big problem."  
  
"Great! Seems like this KaibaCorp took your revenge for you."  
  
"Yeah. I almost feel like I owe them."  
  
Gwen grinned. "That's understandable, but it seems like it doesn't stop him from leaving his company just to ruin this vacation."  
  
"Don't let him deceive you. He's probably got his computer with him, so he can keep in touch. And I think he has somehow found a way to be both bugging us and get in touch with the new CEO."  
  
"Why would he want to speak the CEO? Isn't their collaboration over?"  
  
"Yes, but I heard he is in Egypt."  
  
"Really? Well, we'll see where it goes."  
  
"Yeah. Let's just try and enjoy the flight from here on"  
  
And we decided to watch the movie the stewardess had just put up. Long live Blackadder!  
  
2 hours further, almost at the end of the flight...  
  
"Gwen, Sil." Gar said, after waking up.  
  
"What is it, Gar?" We answered.  
  
He said up straight, narrowed his eyes and scraped his throat "How do we hide from father this vacation, and have a good time like we planned? The three of us have to think of something."  
  
Our mouths fell open, I was amazed. Why hadn't we thought of hiding yet? Had we been so preoccupied with other things? But he was right, we had to think of a way on our own. Mum had planned to spend a relaxing holiday with some books at the swimming pool, and an occasional visit to the market or a local museum. And Quint was meeting some friends he had made on a student- exchange a few months ago, so we wouldn't be seeing him around very much (maybe that was why he was somewhat more relaxed than we were). And we had agreed to do a lot of sightseeing. Why else were we in Egypt?  
  
"I suggest we follow our plan, and sneak out of the hotel early every day, so they can't catch up with us." I said.  
  
"Right" Gar agreed "Would you mind to meet us early, Gwen?"  
  
"No, not at all, I never sleep long in the morning. And maybe you could have breakfast and siesta at my house. I'm sure my parents won't mind. And we could have lunch and dinner outdoors."  
  
"Yes! Great!" We all smiled, our vacation suddenly looked a lot brighter than before. Gar had recovered at least enough to ask what a siesta was.  
  
******************  
  
And so it began. It is starting to get hot in this place, so I guess I'm in the desert, most likely still in Egypt. I hope I don't get bitten by a snake while I recover my memories.  
  
******************  
  
When we checked in in the hotel, we noticed father hadn't been able to reserve a suite anywhere near us, but had a room three floors above us. We secretly exchanged grins. When we got the keys to our room (Gar was sharing one with Quint, and I slept together with mom in a room) we dropped the luggage, and Gar, me and Gwen went to her house to settle her with her luggage and meet her parents. After getting lost a couple of times, we found the house. It was nice, white, with two floors and a terrace on the roof. We rang the doorbell...and a woman, about forty years old, with a hat and an old shirt and shorts opened the door, and she didn't seem to have any perfume on.  
  
"Hello...Gwen! It's so good to see you!" And after she had almost strangled her daughter (they looked enough alike to tell) she released her and took a good look at us. "Ah, I've see you've brought some friends. It's so nice to meet new people. You must be Silandra and Gareth, indeed very nice. My daughter told me about you over the e-mail. I'm Gwen's mother, Calliope, but call me Kelly, please."  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Kelly" we both replied.  
  
I took a glance at Gwen, who looked like she was a bit embarrassed at her mother's flood of words, and desperately tried to think of something to say. She looked at me, and then her face got a determined expression. She turned to her mother "Mum, this is Sil, and that is Gar. I already told you they would be coming to Egypt for a vacation, but fate has taken another turn."  
  
Kelly turned to her daughter, surprised and wondrous "What do you mean, Gwen? Aren't they going to stay those two months?"  
  
"Well yes, but their father, the jerk, and his fiancée have come along, so they will have to avoid him in order to have a pleasant vacation."  
  
"Aha. But don't worry dear, they are always welcome here. It's always nice to have young people around, and I'm glad you already found some friends to explore Egypt with." She smiled friendly at us, and I allowed myself a small sigh of relief. It was arranged! "Now, young ones, please come in, and put the luggage down next to the door, I'll ask Richard to carry it upstairs later. You must all be very thirsty of that terrible heat, some lemonade will take of that. You should indeed drink well while you are here, and..." and while talking she disappeared in the kitchen, and left us in the hall. Gar and I exchanged grins. What a words. But she must be a wonderful woman.  
  
"So, what do you think of my mother so far?" Gwen asked us.  
  
"Delightful, talkative, but delightful." I answered.  
  
"Yes, she's very caring." Gar joked.  
  
Gwen just rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen, so we followed her. There Kelly had already made the lemonade, and handed a glass to each of us. "You just drink it up, and then go to the living room, to meet Richard and his new boss there. She's a lovely woman. And you will find her most interesting. She has a very impressive, very determined, very mysterious attitude"  
  
Gwen rolled her eyes again "Who is she then?"  
  
Kelly turned around again and looked a moment at each of us, before she said "I believe her name is Isis Ishtar, she is from the department of archeology. She's offered Richard a very important task to fulfill."  
  
"What then?" Gar curiously asked.  
  
"Go ask him"  
  
"Ok"  
  
And after a "thanks" for the lemonade we went to the living room. There were two people there. A man, with grey hair, shorts, and a T-shirt as his wife, and a fatherly smile. And a tall woman, or she seemed tall, but she was indeed very mysterious, and had a smell about her that seemed oddly misplaced in the modern home Gwen's parents had created. It smelled more like ancient crypts that were sometimes under medieval churches. And she had long hair, as black as Gwen's, and a toned skin like all the Egyptians seemed to have. She stood up.  
  
"Hello" She greeted us, with an accentless voice.  
  
"Hello" we answered back, all a bit startled, like we had just seen something supernatural happen. She looked at each of us, as if trying to determine what kind of persons we were, analyzing the very depths of our souls. It was creepy. Whatever she saw, she seemed satisfied, as she gave a little smile when she had looked at all of us. Then she spoke, her voice a deep alt "I am Isis Ishtar, good to meet." The business-like way she said that, broke the spell.  
  
"I'm Gwen." Gwen said.  
  
"I'm Silandra"  
  
"I'm Gareth"  
  
Gwen's father came up behind Isis "Ah, hello, children, the plane must have arrived early. Welcome to Egypt. I'm Richard, but my wife must have told you that. This is my new boss, for whom I'll be working now and in summers to come."  
  
"Dad" Gwen smiled and gave her father a big hug, who hugged her back. We had to smile at the family-feeling that came from this. I took a glance at that strange woman, as I wondered what kind of person she was. And her face wore a very serious, firm expression, as though it had never known emotion. But her eyes looked a little sad. Where would that come from? Then she suddenly looked at us.  
  
"You must be her friends." she said, matter-of-fact.  
  
"Uh, well yes, we came here on a vacation." Gar answered, trying to look as polite as he could.  
  
"Do you like Duel Monsters?"  
  
"Well, yes, we do, very much." I answered, a bit surprised.  
  
"Do you know where it came from?"  
  
"We know that it was created from old Egyptian tablets." I replied. A jolt in my stomach betrayed to me that I was at least a bit excited. This was going to be interesting, and a glance at Gar and Gwen learned they were also anxious to hear more.  
  
"Alright, then it will be much easier to explain."  
  
"I'm sorry, but what is 'it'?" Gwen asked.  
  
Isis gave another smile (though she didn't seem like the person who would do that very often) " I figured you would like to know what such an important person is doing in your fathers house, and what could possibly be a job to do in a summer. So I'm going to explain that know to you and your friends, to make sure you are properly informed. And maybe you can be of some help. Do you have your decks with you?"  
  
We nodded, too surprised at this question to do anything else.  
  
"Good."  
  
Gar pulled a face, he wasn't used to being 'of some help'. At home we always needed to ask him specifically to do something. And I myself didn't feel very well at the thought of having to help without being asked. But maybe this would be interesting, and Isis was probably more of a commander than of an asker.  
  
"Follow me to the basement."  
  
So we followed, First Isis, then Gwen, Gar and I, and as the last Gwen's father.  
  
When we came in the basement, I couldn't do anything but gaze. I saw about fifty of those tablets, the paint still intact after thousands of years, and covered in hieroglyphics. It had a strange beauty about it.  
  
"Your father, Gwen, is going to retranslate this, as has been done before with several other tablets. But these were only discovered recently. The temple these tablets used to belong to caved in, and they were used as a fill for the walls of a new temple, that was build during the 21st dynasty. And investigation shows that these were from the 18th dynasty."  
  
"And why could we be of any help, then? We don't know any hieroglyphics, so we can't help translate them." Gwen said.  
  
"Because after retranslation we found that most tablets that were recovered from that time, were about the monsters Mr. Pegasus used to create Duel Monsters. And now we need cards of some sort to test the theory we have."  
  
"What theory?" Wow, Gar had gone berserk, he almost jumped up and down from excitement, for as far as I could tell.  
  
"Come along to this tablet." And she showed us to one that was almost in the back of the room. "When someone called upon a monster in ancient games, it came to live to serve whoever had called him in battle. We think that can happen again with the modern day cards."  
  
"Isn't that already happening with the holographic duel disks?"  
  
"Not exactly. What I mean is that they appear without the help of computers, and in a more proportioned size to the cards, so they would be much smaller and spirit-like."  
  
"Whoa! Can we try?" Gar asked.  
  
"Yes, you can. Please pull out your decks, and pick one monster, and then put your deck but that card back in your pocket."  
  
So we did. And I almost felt like this was funny, because this woman indeed appeared to be supernatural, as was my first impression of her. When I looked at the cards we had chosen, I saw we all had picked our favorite ones. Gar had The King of Yamimakai, Gwen had Dark Elf and I had Hyozanryu.  
  
"Now, lay your card flat on your hand, the brown side up." And we followed orders.  
  
"This summon will probably make you very tired, don't worry about that, it's normal, the first time."  
  
We exchanged worried looks. Could that be dangerous? Then I shrugged to the others, it was almost time for siesta anyway. They understood, and gave a tiny nod.  
  
"Now I will summon them for you" And Isis put her hands over the cards of Gwen and Gar, and chanted something. After a minute or two, the monsters came to life. It looked really weird. First the cards stood up straight, then they began to glow, and then the monster just popped out in a puff of smoke, as large as its card, although Gars level 5 was bigger than Gwen's level 4.  
  
"Can I also have my monster come to life?" I asked, eager to see it.  
  
She turned, and looked at my card "Yes, but you will have to summon another monster, because this monster is too strong to summon for you, at least for now."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"So it says on the tablet."  
  
"So they are already retranslated?"  
  
"No. we have only made a beginning, and it will take at least six more weeks to translate the rest. You will be needed again then."  
  
"Aha. We'll be here." I looked up another favorite of me, The Stern Magic. "Can this card be summoned?"  
  
"Yes, put out your hand." And she summoned him for me. When the card came to life, it looked at me, as though expecting some orders, and I put it on a table in the middle of the basement, where Gar and Gwen had already put their monsters down, so they could walk around. They just stood there for a while, while we gazed at them, wondering how other monsters would look, as we had seen only a few duels with duel disks.  
  
After some time we became tired, and Isis let the monsters vanish when she noticed. But the three of us remained to look at the table, enchanted by the magic of those moments.  
  
"Ahum" And I woke up from my trance.  
  
Gwen's father hadn't said anything since we came in the basement, so I must have looked rather sheepishly when I noticed he was still there. "Shall we go upstairs to discuss further matters?" He asked, and now Gar and Gwen also shook their heads as if to get rid of the spell that had held us all in its grasp.  
  
"I think that would be wise" Isis said, looking as serene as she had done all the time.  
  
When we had all returned to the living room I sat down on the couch, together with Gar and Gwen, curious to hear what Isis had to say.  
  
"Richard, I will see you at the meeting on Monday*, but I have something to say to the youths, in private."  
  
He smiled "Of course, I'll be in the kitchen if anyone needs me." And after he had given us a smile he walked out of the room.  
  
Then she turned to us, and began to speak, with a dead-serious look in her eyes "What you have just seen is to be kept a secret. You musn't speak about it to anyone." And we nodded. "This was the first time for me to see this, and I am very glad that it went so well, but you must realize this summoning is not without danger." She paused, so we could let it sink in. I wondered what she was going to say next. So we nodded again "I would like you all to participate in this project, as will I. If all goes well we will at the end have the ability to summon monsters without any help from technology."  
  
"What do you want us to do?" I asked, as I was still the most awake from the three of us.  
  
"Well, to begin, I want you all to take lessons in reading and pronouncing hieroglyphics. They will take place in the late afternoon and the early evening, from 3 to 7, so you will be able to go sightseeing in the morning, and go out at night. If you agree, I will send my friend to this house, where he will be teaching you. He can speak English, and if you like he could also teach you some basic Arabic"  
  
We agreed, that was reasonable, and it would certainly come in handy. And most of all, it would be fun to be able to understand all those writings in the pyramids and such.  
  
"Furthermore, I would like you to come and practice in the basement thrice a week, so you can become accustomed to the monsters, and the drain of energy will completely vanish in a matter of days, the tablets say."  
  
We exchanged excited looks. That was good, then we wouldn't be as tired as we were now.  
  
"But." Uh-oh that didn't sound good. "From what we have now translated, we understand you have to undergo a ritual, once you have that skill, or else the ability will vanish in a matter of weeks. So that means we will undergo that ritual when we are done translating."  
  
Wow, that sounded creepy, but it would probably be something like a tattoo or drinking a smelly potion. Nothing to worry about too much. The reward would be great.  
  
"But are all the tablets complete?"  
  
"Yes, we have found ancient scrolls that speak of fifty tablets, and we have them all."  
  
"Won't there be more persons wanting to participate?" Gar asked, finally coming back to his senses.  
  
"Maybe, but I cannot tell you right now if there are going to be more persons involved. You can ask me again the next time we practice."  
  
"Okay" And we stood up, thinking the conversation was over.  
  
"Just one more thing. I have a brother, called Malik, or Merik. If you would ever run into him, don't let him know you know me, because he would torture you to get information." We looked at her, and we nodded in understanding. Then we walked to the door to let her out, and to shake hands. She first said goodbye to Gar and Gwen, and then she shook my hand. We looked each other in the eyes, and something happened. We both smiled. And she left with a last goodbye.  
  
When she had gone Gwen and I exchanged looks, and I saw she had experienced the same thing. We had made a new friend.  
  
Then Kelly called us, it was one o'clock, and time for the siesta. She had set up 5 beds in the back room, where it was coolest. I got to sleep with a lot on my mind.  
  
To be continued.  
  
*It's Saturday. 


	4. Talking through the night

Disclaimer applies  
  
4. Talking through the night  
  
****************************  
  
The sounds around me vanish, it's completely silent. What is happening? I hear something familiar.voices! And footsteps in the rhythm of a camel. They are coming nearer. I'm saved! I haven't heard those voices before, I'm sure of it. A man and a woman, I think, and they are saying something in Arabic. Maybe I can understand if I focus.  
  
"..we help..hospital..phone..this away..who.." "Indeed.. of the camel..I will.."  
  
Someone is dialing on a mobile phone, and someone is trying to lift me, but.  
  
Ouch! My head! I'm trying to open my eyes. My body doesn't hurt as much as before. This pain is bearable. I swallow, my throat is so dry. And everything looks so white. This must be a hospital. I'm so tired. I'll sleep. I'm safe. Off to my memories.  
  
***************************  
  
"Sil! Wake up! It's five past four! You've slept long enough" Gar screamed, ringing in my ears. Ow, my head hurt.  
  
"Gar? Are you there? Could you please get me an aspirin?" I asked, rubbing my head. Then I remembered my dream, and I frowned. It had been about something that couldn't have been in a dream at all. There had been persons in my dream, whom I knew in my dream, but not in reality. And it had been very real. There were 8 persons present. Gar, Gwen, Isis, me, and two persons I knew in my dream were lined up. We were one by one initiated in the basement, by two persons in a cloak. One held the persons head steady, and the other one branded a V in the forehead. When it was my turn the dream had ended. Could that be the ritual Isis had been talking about? We'll see. I shouldn't worry about it too much. My headache was more relevant at the moment.  
  
Gar came back from the kitchen with a glass of water and an aspirin. "Thanks." I took it and looked up in the worried face of my brother. I smiled "I'll be alright, I just need 10 more minutes to let the pain go away."  
  
That seemed to ease his mind, and he nodded, looking somewhat more relaxed. Then he frowned again. "Did you also have that strange dream?" I nodded, this was getting stranger by the minute. "I don't know, but do you think it's a vision. It didn't seem to be the present anyway. And I'm sure we would have remembered something like this. And I'm sure I've never seen those guys in front of us before." I shrugged. And before I could say something, Gwen spoke.  
  
"I heard what you just said. But think about it. How would it be possible for us to have visions? I mean, we are not psychic or something, at least not the last time I checked."  
  
I looked at both of them, and they looked at me, almost with puppy dog eyes hoping for me to come up with some logical answer. "Let's just forget about it. Even if it is something we cannot explain, it doesn't appear to me we have to do something with it. It will just happen, at least I intend to let it happen. I want to summon monsters with my hands." And they nodded, seemingly content with the answer.  
  
That night everything was back to normal again. Gwen's parents showed us around town, pointing out the best places to eat, to shop, where we would be certain of quality souvenirs, And how to behave on the market. Never look at someone unless you want to buy something. And we concluded the pleasant evening with dinner in one of the hundred hotels.  
  
Just before midnight we parted, all going to our own bed. We would see each other in the morning at eight, at Gwen's house. But before I could close my eyes, my mother ran into the room, freaked out, and went white as a sheet.  
  
"Who are you! You can't fool me! Come out of that bed this instant!" She said, pointing the umbrella she had snatched from the corner in front of her like a saber.  
  
I climbed out of bed, as slowly as I could, Trying not to scare her. Gheesh, had she gone mad or something? "Mum, calm down. It's me, Sil." I tried to close in on her, or at least to get that umbrella out of my stomach. But no success.  
  
"You can't fool me, you slut! Get out of my room! Get out of my life! I won't let you take my husband from me!" Okay, so she was mad. And divorced. What was going on? I tried to think of what could have happened, but my mind was blank. I backed of, towards the door, to get some help. And because I was afraid. This had never happened before. When I had my hand on the doorknob, the door opened, and Quint came in, looking surprised at the scene. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and sighed. Then he looked at me, pulled up his eyebrow, and spoke.  
  
"Sil, what is going on?"  
  
"Mum has gone crazy" I said, with my back against the door. Quint nodded, walked up to mum, who had been looking startled at Quint all the time, and snatched the umbrella from her hands. Then he went to the bathroom, filled a glass with water, came back, and let mum take a sip from it.  
  
Mum finally calmed down, and sat down on her bed. "What happened to me?" She asked, amazed. "The last thing I remember was having desert in the restaurant downstairs."  
  
"I don't know, mum, you were just plain mad. But it's all over now." I said, while I patted her on her back. Good it was all over now. I turned to Quint, wanting to ask him if we should all go to sleep  
  
But Quint had a very serious look on his face, and asked "Who were with you on that moment, mum?"  
  
She looked up at her eldest son, and replied very soft "Owen and Gabriella were with me. And.and the atmosphere was so tense. I almost couldn't eat. And then an eerie teenager with light blond, straight up hair and I believe purple eyes walked up to our table. He said something to Owen in Arabic or something like it, and then he put his hand on my forehead, and everything started to fade away. I couldn't do anything, it all happened very fast."  
  
I was amazed. This vacation was one weird thing after another. Magically summoning monsters, Isis being able to pronounce the hieroglyphics, and now mum. But now I thought of it, how was Isis able to speak ae? (Authors note: from here on I will call the ancient Egyptian language ae, or else my head will fall of in confusion every time I try to write it down clearly) From what I recall the language was forgotten after the Romans had concurred Egypt, and no-one was able to read the hieroglyphics anymore, until some brilliant 17th or 18th century French guy decrypted a text on a stone that carried both the hieroglyphics and an ancient-Greek translation of the text. So how was it possible for anyone to speak ae? Not. Or maybe that was also magic. O man, what was going on here? I really needed to speak to Gwen and Gar about this, and to Isis. But if I wanted to do that, the situation at hand needed to be solved. So I begged Quint with my eyes to say or do something smart. He looked, took a breath, and.Isis and someone else, presumably her friend, came in, almost bursting through the door, dragging along three unconscious persons.  
  
From two of them I knew the names. My father and Gangsty didn't look as neat as this morning, and the third person, now laying on the floor in the middle of the room, was the blonde my mother had told us about, clothed in a purple shirt and black trousers, wearing more jewelry than I had ever seen on anyone. He looked kind of girlish, if only a bit, and about my age. Then I looked up at Isis' friend, who was saying something to Isis on this moment. He had a dark skin, even darker then Isis, as well as his eyes and hair. Half of his face was tattooed, and he was wearing a white jacket and baggy dark-grey trousers. He had something sad and everything-is-destined- by-fate about him. I glanced at Quint, who was clearly as surprised as I was. What was going on? Something in the doorway drew my attention. It was Gar in his pyjamas. He must have heard all the noise and wondered what was going on. And I turned to Isis, to ask just that question. But before I could, she spoke, her eyes fixed on my mother.  
  
"What has happened here so far, ma'am? I need to know, so I can act accordingly" And mum told her the story she had told us, and to please call her Gladys. Isis nodded seriously, and then turned to me and Gar, who was sitting on the bed, next to where I was standing. "Gar, Sil, do you remember what I told you about my brother previously?" We answered positive "This is him" She said, pointing to the blonde, who was still laying knock- out on the floor. "I want you all to understand what happened, and in order to do so, I suggest you sit down and let me tell you the story." We did, wondering what it could be "Alright. When my brother was young he had developed a dark side, an evil alter ego, called Merik, but Rishid here" And she pointed at her companion "Was a neutralizing factor, as he was as a brother to Malik. And we thought the bad side had ended when he was defeated in the finals of Battle City, that was on TV, so you all must have seen that"  
  
Gar and Quint frowned, and mum snored. She had passed out when she heard 'dark side' as it remembered her of her husband, and what he had done to her. But I remembered something about those creepy finals. "Was he carrying a golden stick with an eyeball with a sort of wings on top? Dueling against the winner of Duelist Kingdom?"  
  
Now Gar also remembered "Yes, the one with his twin hanging over him, the one who didn't have straight-up hair?"  
  
She told us what had happened on that tournament and before, about something called millennium, how she came from a guardian-family (So that was how she was able to speak ae, her family had lived in secrecy.), about all the magic and the myths and the secrets Egypt held hidden in its history. ".So after it was all over, the three of us returned to Egypt, and Malik went to school, I went on with my work for the government, and Rishid assisted me where he could. But one day, Rishid got badly injured, and we had to take him to the hospital. Then the Merik-side returned, and it has possessed Malik ever since, trying to find another way to wield power over the ancient monsters again. My friends, again I must ask you to keep this all a secret, and to speak to no-one about it."  
  
And we swore not to. Quint also, after he had been introduced and told about what happened in the basement of Gwen's house earlier today. "Wow, that was quite a story, and hard to believe if you haven't seen anything happen yourself." He said "But what I'd really like to know is, what happened to mum. Could she have been hypnotized?"  
  
Isis looked at mum, who was peacefully curled up and snoring on the same spot where she had fainted. While Gar and I picked her up to tuck her in, Rishid answered "Yes, in this situation that is the most likely thing to have happened, as that is one of the powers Merik has obtained lately." Why did he look so sad? I mean, yes, you have reason to be when your dearest friend was being possessed, but he looked even sadder than that!  
  
I wanted to know something more "Why did he hypnotize my mother? He doesn't know we know each other, he doesn't know where we are involved in. So what reason could he have to do this, Isis?"  
  
"Normally I wouldn't have an answer to that question, Sil, but Rishid was tailing him today, and he saw your father and Merik meat, so probably it was something he did for him, from what I can tell from your mother's story."  
  
Quint looked worried at that suggestion "Why would two strangers meat each other without a particular reason? And why would Merik do father a favor?"  
  
Gar jumped up, an anxious look on his face "If this is about revenge and power and Duel Monsters, then does this have anything to do with the Seto Kaiba being in Egypt? I mean, He participated in the finals, he organized Battle City in the first place, and has a lot of power, being in charge of KaibaCorp."  
  
Isis gazed at Gar "How do you know he is in Egypt?"  
  
"I saw an article in the newspapers, about his tour to America, Europe and Egypt. Something about a theme park. I believe it said he's trying to fetch investors and locations for it."  
  
"But what would that have to do with father?" Quint asked.  
  
Gar shrugged "I don't know"  
  
"But I do" And suddenly everyone stared at me. It was like a spotlight went on. "When Seto Kaiba became CEO of his company, he broke the joint-venture between his company and my father's, and now my father seeks revenge because he thinks it's Kaiba's fault that his company is ruined"  
  
And when I looked at the others, Rishid was astonished, and Isis's eyes lit up in understandance. But Gar and Quint had confused looks on their faces. "How do you know this, Sil?" Gar asked, trying to get a hold on what it meant what I had just said.  
  
I looked to the ground. I hadn't planned on telling them, but now I had to. "I hacked, Gar, and several times, into the company's computer to gather information. And I'm sorry I haven't told you this before" I looked up "I really am."  
  
He smiled, and put his arm around me. "Don't worry sis. I forgive you." And I was happy that my little brother was still a child, who didn't worry about things too much. As for Quint, he gave me a we'll-talk-later look, and left it at that. For now.  
  
"Well, all that talking clears things up a bit. What are we going to do with these three? I take it you want to take your brother with you, Isis?"  
  
"Yes, Quint, wasn't it, but your father and this woman are to be taken to their room. Rishid, maybe you two can take them away."  
  
Rishid agreed, and he and Quint went out, both carrying one of the couple. When they were gone, Isis turned to me and Gar. She looked relieved and tired. "I think you will need to tell something more later. But we all need some sleep now, it's 2 am"  
  
"Where shall we meet?" "At Gwen's, at 3 pm, as said"  
  
"Okay, see you then"  
  
And we parted with a goodbye, each to our own beds.  
  
To be continued 


End file.
